Garcetti has vowed to cut the number of homeless by expanding shelters, housing, and services. Midnight Mission, meanwhile, has been offering food, shelter, 12-step recovery, character building, and life skills classes for many years.

Shlomo Nadler was also once at the end of his rope.

He said he had been banned from all sober living homes in the greater Phoenix area, "living on random people's couches."

"I wasn't proud of where I was and assumed I'd be dead by either overdose or gunshot," he said.

In 2016, he went to the Midnight Mission.

Between 2016 and 2017, he relapsed three times. At one point, he said, he was in a drug-fueled haze and sold his food stamps and the Wi-Fi passwords of local establishments to fund his drug addiction.

He eventually stayed sober, a requirement to graduate from the program, and now works for the Mission.

He won't forget the feeling of reaching the bottom and seeing people threatened, robbed and stabbed in a place he described as "Third World."

"I was so angry that I'd wound up on Skid Row," he said. "The moment I realized I'd be OK was when I started thinking about using again, and instead of thinking of all the fun I used to have, I immediately thought about all the horrible stuff."

Nadler is living on the third floor of the Midnight Mission until he can independently lease an apartment. He has repaired his relationship with his family, and said he is in a better place.

"I'm happy where I work," he said. "I'm thrilled that I've got my family back. And I've been humbled enough to really be grateful for what I have now."